Women's Soccer Falls At Home To Colby-Sawyer Wednesday, 2-1

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's soccer team fell to the visiting Colby-Sawyer College (CSC) Chargers, 2-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match on a picturesque Wednesday fall afternoon at the USJ Soccer Field in West Hartford. The Chargers scored late in the first half and tacked on an insurance goal late in the second half, while the Blue Jays tried to make a late charge and scored their lone goal in the final minute, but couldn't find the equalizer to account for the final margin of victory.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: USJ 1, Colby-Sawyer, 2
Records: USJ (2-5-1, 1-3-1 GNAC), CSC (4-5-1, 3-2-0 GNAC)
Location: USJ Soccer Field (West Hartford, Conn.)

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Jays had the first good scoring chance in the game just shy of 13 minutes in. Senior forward Maxine Muscatello (Berlin, Conn.) crossed a ball in from the left corner that went across the goalmouth to sophomore forward Kelsi Ursini (Groton, Conn.), who came on charging from the top of the penalty area. Ursini's charge toward goal resulted in a difficult first-touch shot which arched high and bounced off the top of the cross bar and out of play.
• USJ nearly scored again at the 27:57 mark of the first half when Muscatello sliced and diced up the left side before beating a CSC defender along the end line. She cut back and fired a close-range shot that Colby-Sawyer's senior goalkeeper Alexis Lebreton (Bangor, Maine) deflected up and over the cross bar to keep the match scoreless.
• Muscatello had another great scoring chance for the Blue Jays 32 minutes into the match when she drove up the middle of the field, found some space, and launched a shot with her right foot that sailed just over the cross bar, as the Blue Jays continued to put the pressure on the Chargers early.
• Despite the early chances from the Blue Jays, it would be the Chargers that would strike first in the 42nd minute of the first half. Off a USJ turnover, CSC's senior midfielder Kara Keiper (Peterborough, Mass.) took the ball and drove up the middle of the field before sending a pass up the left side to her sophomore teammate Bridget O'Connell (Peabody, Mass.). O'Connell took a touch to settle and then cut back toward the middle of the field to create some space from a USJ defender and launched a shot with her right foot that snuck just over the outstretched arms of USJ's freshman goalkeeper Chandler Douglas (North Haven, Conn.) to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
• The second half featured consistent back-and-forth play by both teams. The Blue Jays' best chance to tie the match at the time came in the 77th minute when junior midfielder Zoe Walk (Newington, Conn.) collected a pass just inside the penalty area, spun, and ripped a shot that went just wide of the right post.
• The Chargers would essentially put the game though when they were the next team to score and increased their lead to 2-0 in the 81st minute. Following a CSC goal kick, Chargers' senior midfielder Grace Walsh (Marston Mills, Mass.) corralled a bouncing ball just beyond midfield and played a great long through ball that allowed O'Connell to sprint out after and take a touch to pass USJ's back line. In a one-on-one situation with only Douglas to beat, O'Connell slipped her shot into the lower-right corner of the net to build the Chargers' lead.
• The Blue Jays would not go down without a fight though and spoiled the visitor's shutout bid with a goal in the final minute. Following another CSC goal kick, the Blue Jays would be on the right side of the bounce and junior midfielder Marisa Brough (Cheshire, Conn.) collected the ball near the sideline and sent a cross into the penalty area. Senior defender Elizabeth Garlock (Meriden, Conn.) was up field during the cross and was able to muscle her way around a CSC defender to get a toe on it and slice it past Lebreton and into the bottom-right corner of the goal with 21 seconds remaining to account for the final score.

QUOTABLE

"We had a disappointing performance today with a disappointing result. We walk away from today with some lessons that need to be learned and fixed, and if we can do that we can bounce back for the remainder of conference play. Zoe Zappone had a great overall performance today, providing versatility across the field, while Garlock never quit and had a fantastic effort to earn our lone goal. We will get back to practice for the remainder of the week to clean up some things ahead of a key GNAC match on Saturday at Rivier," said head coach Jenna Kalwa.

NOTES

• Today's match marked the fifth meeting all-time between the two GNAC programs. Despite the setback, the Blue Jays still hold a slight edge in the overall series, 3-2. 
• Garlock's goal was the first on the 2022 season for the senior captain and the third in her career.
• Overall, the Blue Jays outshot the Chargers on the day, 16-13, but Colby-Sawyer was a little bit more precise and held an edge in shots on goal, 10-5
• USJ's Douglas made eight saves in defeat to drop to 2-5-1 on the year between the pipes for the Blue Jays.
• CSC's Lebreton made four saves and improved to 4-5-1 with the win in goal for the Chargers.
• The Blue Jays held a slight edge in corner kicks, 6-2.

UP NEXT

Women's soccer returns back to the pitch on Saturday, October 1 for a GNAC match on the road at Rivier University. Kickoff between the Blue Jays and Raiders is slated for 3:30 p.m. at Joanne Merrill Field in Nashua, N.H.